President Joe Biden will announce new environmental justice actions at the White House on Friday morning, surrounded by climate and environmental justice advocates, according to a White House official.
Biden will sign a new executive order that will make environmental justice a central mission of “every single executive agency,” per the the official. The executive order, which will still be up to agencies to implement, will also create a new Office of Environmental Justice inside the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Biden’s announcements come as many climate and environmental justice groups have been frustrated at the administration’s recent approval of a major Alaska oil project. His speech is ahead of an expected reelection announcement – with plans underway for as soon as next week, CNN reported Thursday. Biden worked hard to court environmental justice activist groups during his last campaign.
The new order will direct agencies to work more closely with impacted communities and improve “gaps” in scientific data to try to better tackle the impacts of pollution on people’s health, the official added. And if toxic substances were released from a federal facility in the future, the order requires federal agencies to notify nearby communities.
The order comes a few years after Biden announced his signature “Justice40” initiative, vowing to direct 40% of federal climate and clean funding from new legislation to disadvantaged communities. On Friday, three additional agencies – the Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation and NASA – will also join the initiative.
Biden will also take a swipe at Republicans in his speech, contrasting his action on environmental justice with the GOP’s policies, the White House official said, highlighting Biden’s initiatives to remove lead pipes from America’s drinking water and plug orphaned oil and gas wells.
Biden’s speech comes after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy included proposals in his debt limit proposal that would overturn clean energy tax credits passed in the Inflation Reduction Act last year, as well as after HR 1 – Republicans’ version of an energy permitting bill.
“Speaker McCarthy and his extreme caucus’ proposals, including HR 1, would be a climate and health disaster that President Biden won’t allow on his watch,” the White House official said.
Source: www.cnn.com